# NTSB ERA25FA069: Vans RV-12IS, N702DP, Homosassa, FL, December 7, 2024

- Type: NTSB accident investigation
- Classification: Accident · Fatal · Class 3 · Field · Preliminary report
- Date: December 6, 2024, 20:06 local (Dec 7, 2024, 01:06 UTC)
- Place: Homosassa, FL · On road
- Coordinates: 28.824421, -82.579637 (estimated)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=28.8244&lon=-82.5796&mi=10
- Phase of flight: [Maneuvering](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/450) (OpenAirDocs' grouping)
- Defining event: [Maneuvering: Fuel exhaustion](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/192)
- Highest injury: Fatal
- Injuries: 1 fatal
- Status: Investigation ongoing
- Investigation class: Class 3
- NTSB office: Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties: Rotec, FAA/FSDO
- NTSB case key (mKey): 199391
- NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ERA25FA069
- NTSB preliminary report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/199391/pdf
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA25FA069

## Preliminary report

On December 6, 2024, about 2004 eastern standard time, an experimental amateur-built Vans Aircraft Inc RV-12IS, N702DP, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Homosassa, Florida. The private pilot was fatally injured. The flight was conducted as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. A preliminary review of Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) data revealed the accident airplane departed Falcon Field Airport (FFC), Atlanta, Georgia, around 1442, and landed at the George T. Lewis Airport (CDK), Cedar Key, Florida, about 1640, a 1 hr. and 58 minute flight. According to an airport employee at CDK, after the airplane landed, she met the pilot and drove him to a nearby restaurant. She later picked the pilot up and took him back to his airplane. The pilot told the employee that he was flying back to Atlanta. The pilot did not purchase fuel at CDK. The pilot departed CDK about 1752. The pilot did not file a flight plan and was not in contact with air traffic control. The airplane climbed to about 4,300 ft mean sea level (msl), on a north-westerly ground track toward Atlanta before it descended to 2,300 ft msl and made a right turn to the east-southeast then to the southeast. The airplane flew along the coastline before it maneuvered out over the water, then continued back on a south - southeasterly track toward Tampa, Florida. By the time the airplane was west of Tampa, it had descended to 1,500 ft msl. It then made a right turn toward the north-northeast. As the airplane headed north, it descended to 1,000 ft msl. About 2002, the airplane turned right and made several climbing and descending left and righthand turns west of U.S. Highway 98. The airplane then turned north and entered a shallow, descending right turn toward the highway before the data ended at 2004. The entire flight was about 2 hrs. and 12 minutes in duration. The airplane impacted a set of approximately 50-ft-tall power lines that ran perpendicular and west of the highway. The airplane came to rest inverted beneath the powerlines and there was no postimpact fire. All major components of the airplane were accounted for at the accident site. According to first responders, no fuel was observed leaking from the airplane nor was there an odor of fuel at the accident site. The airplane wreckage was recovered to a salvage facility and retained for further examination. The weather conditions reported at Crystal River Airport (CGC), Crystal River, Florida, about 3 miles north of the accident site, at 2055 included wind from 010 degrees at 3 knots, visibility 10 miles, clear skies, a temperature of 10° degrees C, a dewpoint of 5° degrees C, and a barometric altimeter setting of 30.25 inHg. Sunset was at 1734.

## Sequence of events

The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened.

- [Maneuvering: Fuel exhaustion](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/192) (defining event); cases with it: [Vans RV-12IS, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/192/sequence.md?model=069002L), [All aircraft, 804 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/192/sequence.md)
- [Emergency descent: Controlled flight into terr/obj (CFIT)](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/120); cases with it: [Vans RV-12IS, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/120/sequence.md?model=069002L), [All aircraft, 1,074 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/120/sequence.md)

## Aircraft

- Registration: [N702DP](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N702DP), registered now, S/N 121377, built 2023 (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: VANS AIRCRAFT INC RV-12IS
- Registry model: [Vans RV-12IS](https://openairdocs.org/model/vans-rv-12is) (registry code 069002L) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: [Rotax 912 IS series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/rotax-912-is-series) (registry code 55593, 4 cycle) (OpenAirDocs)
- Category: Airplane
- Serial number: 121377
- Year built: 2023
- Damage: Substantial damage
- Flight: Personal, Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate: Special, Experimental (Special)
- Departed: CDK, Cedar Key, FL
- Equipment: ADS-B, Electronic primary flight display, Onboard weather

## Weather

- Conditions: Visual (VMC), Night
- Wind: 10° at 3 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling: none
- Temperature: 50 °F, dew point 41 °F
- Altimeter: 30.25 inHg
- Observed at: KCGC, 3 nm away
- METAR: KCGC 070055Z AUTO 01003KT 10SM CLR 10/05 A3025 RMK AO2

## FAA reports on this event (1)

The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs).

- [Accident 20241206019089A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20241206019089A), Dec 6, 2024: Vans Aircraft Inc RV-12IS, Homosassa, FL, Destroyed, 1 fatal. On December 6, 2024, about 2004 eastern standard time, an experimental amateur-built Vans Aircraft Inc RV-12IS, [privacy data omitted] was substantially…

From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

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